It was a frustrating day for players and spectators alike at the Aegon Championships on Monday as the rain swept across London throughout the day limiting the action to just over an hour so already the tournament is way behind schedule.
That isn’t a bad thing for those with ground passes on Tuesday however as the entire first round with the exception of the one completed match will be played out across four courts on what is set up to be a great day of tennis if the weather holds. Thankfully the forecast is much better for Tuesday.
Monday recap
There wasn’t a lot to recap on from Monday apart from the insane amounts of rain that fell. The one match that was completed in the main draw though saw an upset take place as Steve Johnson saw off Richard Gasquet in a match where Gasquet led 4-0 in the first set only to lose 76 62 in an amazing turnaround after the many rain delays.
Tuesday – Centre Court
Four matches are on the schedule for centre court on Tuesday and they begin with Fernando Verdasco taking on Stan Wawrinka. Andy Murray then faces last week’s champion Nicolas Mahut before the big match between Nick Kyrgios and Milos Raonic. The day concludes with Kyle Edmund against Gilles Simon.
I don’t think Murray will have it all his own way against a confident Mahut but if anyone is going to neutralise that big serve it will be the defending champion. I’ve a feeling Kyle Edmund will run Simon close but I’ve no idea who I think will come through the main game. Maybe McEnroe can inspire Raonic?
In the opening game I think there is value in taking on Stan Wawrinka. Of all the surfaces they play on I think grass is comfortably the weakest one for the Swiss and first up he could do without a man who has the tools to go well in Fernando Verdasco.
The Spaniard’s serve is likely to zip off this court and the angles he can find with it sets points up and makes him hard to play against. Verdasco showed how well he is playing in taking Kei Nishikori the distance in the French Open. He is a former quarter finalist here and at Wimbledon so he can play on the grass and at 11/4 with his tricky serve I’ll take him here.
Tuesday – Court One
There are four matches on this court on Tuesday too. Feliciano Lopez and Marin Cilic start proceedings with Grigor Dimitrov taking on Janko Tipsarevic afterwards. John Isner and Juan Martin del Potro is the third game of the day and the schedule concludes with Dan Evans against Paul-Henri Mathieu.
We’ve already got our bet carried over from Monday in the opening match here while our outright bet runs in the Isner game. As with Monday there isn’t much else I like in the other matches on this schedule so I’ll keep an eye on the first game and sit the rest out.
Tuesday – Outside Courts
The rest of the seven matches will take place on the outside courts and there is plenty of British interest with James Ward and Aljaz Bedene in action out there. I don’t fancy anything in their matches but there are two bets I like.
Kevin Anderson has been busy this week playing qualifying to make it into this tournament but I’m not sure all the playing and waiting around and everything is going to help him. He is still trying to find form after his injury earlier in the year and Bernard Tomic isn’t the ideal first round opponent.
Tomic holds a 3-0 head to head lead over the South African and seems to be able to read his serve particularly well for some reason. That can be fatal for Anderson here as if his serve is countered then he doesn’t have the groundstrokes to push past Tomic therefore I’ll take the Australian there.
I’m also going to take on the former champion Sam Querrey who is another one who I worry for if the serve comes back and Roberto Bautista-Agut is perfectly astute in the returning game. We know the Spanish player is playing well because of how well he played against Djokovic in the French Open.
Bautista-Agut won a tournament on the grass in Holland a couple of years ago so he can play on this surface and at the prices I’m happy to side with him here safe in the knowledge that if he can get Querrey’s serve back the American doesn’t have much else to get him with.
Tips
WON – Back F.Verdasco to beat S.Wawrinka for a 3/10 stake at 3.75 with Coral
Back him here:
WON – Back B.Tomic to beat K.Anderson for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with NetBet
WON – Back R.Bautista-Agut to beat S.Querrey for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with NetBet
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016
